1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to grain cracking modules and more particularly pertains to improvements for a grain husk cracking plate for cracking the husk of harvest grains.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of grain cracking devices is known in the prior art. These devices "crack" or open the kernel of a feed grain by rupturing the outer husk of the kernel for enhancing the digestibility of the grain by livestock. The most common cracking apparatus comprises a pair of contacting rollers situated in the grain path within a grain harvesting machine. The harvested grain is forced between the rollers while traveling through the harvesting machine. The rollers crush the grain kernels therebetween. However, such roller-type crackers are expensive to maintain and replace, and are vulnerable to damage by foreign matter moving along the grain path with the grain.
Also known are "cracker" plates, which are positioned along one wall of the grain path in the harvesting machines so that grain kernels driven through the grain path strike against and are ruptured by stationary blades on the plate. However, the design of the heretofore known cracker plates has limited their use to only a few types of grain harvesting machines, while these cracker plates have been incompatible with, or inefficient when employed on, other types of harvesting machines. Significantly, the known cracker plates are also completely formed of a uniformly similar material. The cutting or rupturing edges of the blade members are most vulnerable to wear by the flow of grain and foreign matter traveling through the grain path. Significant wear of the cutting edge of the blades generally requires that the entire cracking plate must be replaced, regardless of the condition of the other portions of the plate.
In these respects, the grain husk cracking plate according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of cracking the husk of harvest grains.